Inbuilt - Appointment - UK
Date: 01 Apr 2008
Sarah Royse, Principal Consultant at Inbuilt, has been named Young Consultant of the Year by the Association for Consultancy and Engineering.
The 28 year old consultant engineer was described by the judges as "a true visionary" for her work in engineering design, her commitment to her profession and her insights into the limitations of the sustainability agenda in the built environment.
Sarah has long supported and participated in the development of 'green' skills among school leavers, undergraduates and postgraduate engineers. However, Sarah's key concern is the gap between theory and reality when it comes to achieving genuine sustainability in the UK's building stock.
Sarah says: "So far, the sustainability agenda has focused on theory and feasibility. It has suffered somewhat from misinformed agendas and practices and procedures being copied, diluted and re-applied as tokenistic 'greenwash'."
Exploring the reasons why so many 'green' buildings fail to meet their original design intent, Sarah explained that these failings are often attributed to a lack of clarity in the initial brief, changes during the design, construction and commissioning of the building, and incorrect operation and management of the building in use.
However, Sarah points out that the business model of many consultancies might also contribute to the problem - principally because of the way that conventional contracts and fee structures limit a consultant's input to a linear process of "design, monitor (construction) and commission."
She says: "Sustainability is neither linear nor finite and we cannot hope to deliver it through this form of appointment. I believe the role of the consultant engineer needs to evolve to incorporate a new dimension directed at advising (upstream) the decision making process, and managing (downstream) the coordination of sustainability through the multidisciplinary design, construction and post occupancy process. I believe that in getting the process right, the right product will follow."
Sarah started her career as a consultant engineer for Max Fordham LLP where she became a partner specialising in building services and the environmental design of both new build and refurbishment projects.
In 2007 she became one of the first people to join Inbuilt, the UK's first major consultancy specialising exclusively in sustainable buildings, communities and construction which was set up by Dr David Strong, the founder of the UK Green Building Council.
To date, Sarah's work with Inbuilt has focused on developing a suite of tools and methodologies to support Inbuilt's 'whole system thinking' approach.
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